Soon Forgotten, Never Lost
by Rixah
Summary: PREVIOUSLY ONE GLIMPSE. Earth. An undiscovered planet with its magic lost. Heartless were no where to be found... that is, until they found the final reports of Ansem the Wise. What will happen in the between? ZexOC RoxOC mildco
1. Chapter 1: A Different Kind of Day

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING KH OR FINAL FANTASY, JUST RIXAH AND SOME OTHER RANDOM CHARACTERS THAT MAY POP UP (discluding Tory)**

**um, no flaming, this is my first REAL fanfiction that may or may not be completed, depending on amount of reviews.**

**I give my gratitude to Tory and Sam! For all your helps! well, wish me luck because here i go!**

**ah, yes also:**

**Raining Moon Song is going to write her own intro (prob next chap) and the first part (?) of chap 11**

**and ty everyone, for clicking on this story! ^.^ please please PLEASE be sure to R&R to give me your opinions**

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CHAPTER 1

"So, it's true... Number V has found Ansem's final reports," Sai'x confirmed upon entering Xemnas's office in the Castle That Never Was. Lately everyone had been in a slump and the progress was getting slower and slower. Number VI declined any missions offered with a smartly concocted excuse; Sai'x had tried to convince the Superior that the shorter Nobody was just being unreasonable, but Number I wouldn't hear of it.

"Yes. Did V tell you?" Xemnas asked with a deep, booming voice that was full of authority. He thought he'd asked the Silent Hero to keep it quiet, after all, he should have been good at _that _much.

Sai'x did not hesitate with his next response. "I gave him no other option but to tell me. Although, I had guessed about the reports beforehand."

"I assumed that you would be intelligent enough to realize so. Did Number V exploit what had been written as well?"

Sai'x shook his head and said, "No, he did not. He advised me to come speak with you."

Xemnas smiled, it was an evil smile, one that showed his lack of vacations and obsessive compulsive disorder about hearts. "I am going to require half of the organization's members to be temporarily relocated to a world recently discovered by Xigbar, Earth is what it is called. The Heartless have not yet been able to breach the door leading to the world, and I believe it has yet to be tainted by physically harming Darkness. Based on what the report said, a country on that planet called "The United States" has a language surprisingly similar to our own. I need Number's: III, VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII, and XIII in here immediately. Do not give them any briefing on the assignment, I have a keen suspicion that this theory will give the most beneficial results if they are not informed. After all, has my old _master_ been wrong yet?"

Sai'x smirked as well. They would get three things done with all of this: get a gist on the new world, get an extremely vital theory tested, and they would get a break from a significant portion of the annoying members that usually resided in the castle, most of which were frequently looking for trouble. "No, Superior, but I am curious..."

"Yes, Number VII?"

"What will they be told the mission is _for_?"

Xemnas almost laughed. "Why, they will be informed that it is a mandatory vacation. Though I suppose it is partially true."

When Xemnas dismissed the Lunar Diviner, the elf-eared Nobody bowed and exited via portal expressionlessly. After all, they were Nobody's. And Nobody's supposedly didn't have hearts or, to be more technical, _souls_. (They did have the organ, however. Demyx often had misunderstood this in the begining, untill Sai'x had showed him his mistake; it was a rather violent demonstration...)

But according to the last report of Ansem the Wise, the abstract thought that they had no "souls" could all be wrong.

Zexion flipped through Vexen's copy of "Hybrid Species" with much disinterest. He was currently located in the cluttered basement of the Castle that Never Was (a.k.a. Vexen's lab). Lexaeus was in the dining room with Sai'x, Zexion could smell them from there. Lexaeus reminded the Schemer vaguely of dirt, and Sai'x didn't have any peculiar smell, though Number VI was sure that if he got right up next to the Diviner he would be able to recognize something that corresponds with metal. Strange as that was, Vexen, though Zexion did not relay this, smelled completely foreign to anything he had ever known. Then again, the Academic owed him for saving his vat in the corner from the fiery, destructive hands of Axel, so it was no question as to why he never complained.

Unfortunately the Academic was determined to repay Zexion by making him taller, and, since most of his tried experiments failed, the Schemer was extremely wary.

It was rather distracting, Zexion did not want to get too skeptical of the ingredients for Number III would surely start a "respect rant" in his direction (and that rarely occurred). Then once that was finished with, Zexion would be banned without even obtaining the benefits of reaching his coffee in the morning when Axel put it on the top shelf and slid it back all the way unpurpose. Not that Zexion was that short, he was a mere 5.6 and everyone, besides Roxas, was only a bit taller than him, a few inches. Or, if they were like the Superior, a forearm's length, at most; that wasn't a very substantial amount, considering if Zexion was as deprived of visible muscles as Axel he would be most likely the same height as him.

But, alas, it wasn't one of Zexion's top issues at the moment.

A portal appeared in front of him, and the Cloaked Schemer's lovely comrade Sai'x stepped out. "The Superior would like to speak with you both immediately," he told them coldly.

"Wonderful timing, _neophyte_." Zexion shut the book in his hands and placed it on a messy desk next to his chairs.

Sai'x glared at the Schemer disdainfully and walked back through the portal, III and VI followed quietly behind him. Zexion really did not want to bother himself with petty missions or arguments with the Superior.

_Lucky _for him, it was a must be done assignment.

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Rixah walked down the street at 5:38 in the afternoon, practically skipping with joy. She had a malicious grin on her face and her lavender eyes beamed with satisfaction. Her long brown hair was brushed back behind her shoulders, which were covered by a flimsy black jacket that hid a spaghetti strap tank-top. It had been a good day indeed for the teen, she'd egged two houses and broke a window or two.

They all thought they were better than her, well, they were not by any circumstances. Emo. Gothic. All of the above and more was what she was always called, everyday. No matter what, Rixah always stealthily redeemed herself, one way or another. Whether she heard the stereotypical accuser call her what he/she may have called her, or not. But, they brought it upon themselves, and besides, it wasn't as if they would ever notice that it was the quiet little emo in the background commiting all of the dirty deeds.

The term "It's always the quiet ones" is very correct in many cases. Especially Rixah's. Rixah's father had left her mother and her when she was only six. That's it, that's all, that is what it is. Rixah's mother, Tanya, was always popping anti-depressant pills, though. So it didn't help that she was always happy and oblivious, living in her own little world, not even bothering to glance at her daughter who was inconspicuously in denial. It was sad, really. In a kind of sick way. Rixah's grandfather let the small family of two live in a huge mansion for practically free; he was a millionare (even in this economy), and even hired a butler and a few unnoticable maids.

What Rixah hated most was stupid people. Not people who failed classes at school, no. Just the snobs and such that thought themselves superior to her in every and all ways. Rixah was determained to show them all how they were wrong about every impression they obtained by judging her unjustly. The only ones in her life that weren't considered stupid to the teen was her best friend, Tris, her on-line friend, Rainyue, and the few people in the world that left her undisturbed.

Everyone else was horrible to her.

And that was her philosophy.

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**wow, i did surprisingly good, i think. i urge you to review, actually, i practically beg you all to! if something doesnt make sense, tell me PLEASE! ill give out giant virtual-cookies with the members of organization 13s' faces on them if you do ^.^**


	2. Chapter 2: Victoria's Own

**okay, okay, so Raining Moon Song is letting her character, Tory, be in my story! yayz!!! so Raining Moon Song wrote this and i added some stuff (with her consent) and its gonna be great! though it may take longer than normal because her yahoo is a bit messed up .**

**OMIGOSH IM SRRY ITS SO SHORT BUT THE NEXT CHAPPY IS A LOT LONGER!**

**Disclaimer: i only own rixah in this part**

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_A girl sits on her steps, her chin in her hands and her elbows on her knees as she stares upward at the black sky decorated with stars. Brown hair nearly passes her shoulders, but is pulled into a ponytail, bangs nearly blocking sight of her eyes. She was tired, but really didn't feel like going inside. She's thirteen, nearly fourteen. _

_Her name is Victoria, going by the nickname Tory or Tori (preferably the first) and she spends most of her time inside on the computer or outside running. She's not a people-person, and she's been having family problems and the like, however her online friend Rixah has been keeping her cheerful. Her mother says not to give out personal imformation, but she's rather open with Rixah...after all, what's the harm in friends, huh?_

_She's 5'6", pretty tall for someone her age. She's also a gifted manga artist, and spends her spare time doing that._

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**review plz, all reviews for this chapter will get to Raining Moon Song too!!!!!!! again, srry its so short, but i didnt want to add it to chapter 3 because it was so good by itself**


	3. Chapter 3: Their Grand Entrance

okay, okay here i go again with this lovely story, right? right?

this one, marly is a bit ooc... okay, a lot but he turns normale later on!

Disclaimer: I DON'T own anything kingdom hearts! you know this, don't you? Nor do I own Tory/Victoria!

this one is by me!

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CHAPTER 3

Putting it plain and simple (so people like Axel can understand it), the mission made no lucid sense to Number VI. He could easily list off twenty reasons why it was illogical in under ten seconds. Reasons such as: they were Nobodies, they didn't _need _relaxing vacations on an unexplored world. Who needed to relax, anyways? Certainly not, he, Zexion. And he _certainly_ did not need to attend a public high school (or any high school for that matter). But why was the most easy-going members attending? Why not Number IV? He was very up-tight of the late.

Not that he would question Number I's motives right away, he would end up like those who did (Vexen), severely punished.

Though... it irked Zexion. Surely the Superior would have more sensible motives?

"I do _not _like it," hissed a touchy Chilly Academic who was waiting for the emo-haired teen to examine the cloths that were supposed to help him "blend in with the people there" in the library. They were to meet in the library when ready, then leave for Earth in a small gummy ship. Inconvenient? yes. Necessary? yes. Prone to be annoying? most definitely.

It was said that Xemnas was a friend of the elderly man who owned the house where they were destined to stay when he was a Somebody. They, the members, were Xemnas's rich co-workers that needed to get a better veiw on the "middle class' lifestyle to be more productive at work. How living at a 30 room mansion was considered middle class, Zexion would never figure it out (without classifying it as a ruse, that is). Though Earth's technology was considerably advanced, they had no knowledge of magic, other worlds with life, moogles (which Marluxia found absurd), Heartless, or Nobodies. Which meant their weapons would be relinquished. Which meant their powers would be halved as well. _Which meant_ that they wouldn't have the abilities to portal anywhere they want.

_A strange planet, indeed_, Zexion though bitterly.

"So, Xemnas himself chose these articles of clothing. I find that extremely difficult to believe," Zexion mumbled as he eyed a rather displeasing outfit. The periwinkle haired Nobody turned as soon as he smelled Axel and his partner in crime, Roxas, enter the room.

It was easy to see that Axel's fiery, spiky red hair complimented his eyes, _and_ personality. Little black diamond tattoos were located under each of his eyes, and his cloak didn't hide his skinny figure. VIII was a trouble-making man who smelt of burnt toast to Zexion. Roxas, the only other member who was "younger" than the Cloaked Schemer (they, since they were, undeniably, Nobodies, they didn't really age in "looks" all that much), though maybe Xion was younger than he, had spiky (though not nearly as ludicres as Axel's nor half as long as the Key of Destiny's) blonde hair with the tell-tale innocent blue cerulean blue eyes to top it off. Sadly, Number XIII was the more sensible of the chaotic duo, and, though always persuaded by Axel and his damned sea-salt ice-cream stash, tended to think of the consequences a tad bit more thoroughly.

Not even Zexion, the most intelligent (not to sound full of himself) of the fourteen Nobodies in Organization XIII, had bothered to count the endless amount of pranks the two had pulled in their non-lives.

"Yo," Axel snorted in his conceded way, "look, Zex's got himself some emo-cloths, ha!" Roxas was ignorant to this, as he never actually _looked _at the endless quantities of booked located on the various -and tall- shelves. A pitiful trait gained from his friendship from the red-head with porcupine hair...

"Huh? Oh, cool, Zexion. I got street cloths." Roxas told him, still partially taking in the scenery.

**a/n: when roxi says "street cloths", he means the ones in kh 2 ^.^**

Axel grinned, "Yep, me too!"

Vexen and his stomach churning acidic smell held his held high and felt the need to put in, "I received mostly business cloths meant for serious purposes, unlike-"

Suddenly, Marluxia -a ton of rose petals- and Larxene popped up from the same portal. Marluxia looking... well... like he was...

Zexion shuddered voluntarily as a girlish giggle came out of the man's mouth and he twirled around them. Larxene had a stunned demeanor on and appeared to be sick.

"And I gots prwetty cloths! Larxy- anne over there got fwrilly, girly cloths of which she doesn't like, me thinks!" And just like that, the man (?) disappeared as fast as he came, which for Zexion and Vexen was not quick enough. The feminine scene of the originally normal Number XI was unfortunately burned into their minds.

"What-?" Vexen gasped with "disgraceful" written all over his face.

"Some questions are better left, as they say, untouched."

VIII and XIII continued to roll on the floor with laughter, clutching their stomachs, while Larxene merely blinked, then, as they all silently predicted they would, ran off in fury after the derisive pink haired man and shouted various things that Zexion would highly prefer to leave censored, even though they were put in a slightly polite form.

"Something tells me that Marly sniffed the wrong flower this morning." Axel choked from lack of air, as did Roxas.

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"They'll be here _any minute_!" Rixah's mother's voice joyously rang out from the hall. Rixah had smugly decided a little while ago to lock herself into her room.

Rixah sighed melodramatically and rolled off of her bed, still fully dressed and not planning to change any time soon. "Yeah, mother, I'll be out in a minute..."

Rixah's room was probably the smallest out of all of the sleep-able rooms. Thankfully, though, it faced west so the sun wouldn't shine in through her window and wake her up after a single girl raid. The walls were a sky blue and the carpeting was a fluffy sort of light grey. The door was located across from the window -which had her queen sized bed next to it- and the door to her private bathroom next to that. A few dressers were smashed into the room, but nothing more, other than the CDs and books that littered everywhere. Everywhere, not being a light term, meant that she had, indeed stepped on -and broke- more than a few of her favorite CDs, but she refused to have any of the snickering maids clean anything of hers. If she wanted that done, she would do it herself.

Though the prospect of contact with new people in the same room made Rixah's heart seethe, in the back of her mind, she was truly curious. After all, it wasn't like every person in the world was an idiot; take Tory, or even her friend Tris, for instance. Technically, her grandfather owned the mansion yet lived in the ever blossoming Florida. Her mother, Tanya, was always working because she really only had to pay for food and clothing (she had a minimum wage job), but still liked the extra cash on hand. This place was so big that if Rixah ever ventured farther from the path that led to the kitchen, living room, main entrance, or her own room, she would most likely get lost. There _must_'ve been enough rooms to keep the guests busy enough to stay away from her.

Or... so she thought.

So Rixah stalked solemnly through the dimly lit halls until she arrived at her destination, the ever prestigious living room -yet somehow still hardly empty save a couch, 42" inch flat-screen, and a few computers-. Let's just say she was on the verge on hitting her head against the nearest beige wall several times at the sight of the eight other people that occupied the room.

And, damn, they were something else.

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To say Zexion was comfortable in dark jeans and a tight black shirt with outlandish -for him- tennis shoes would be like saying that Larxene adored her frilly t-shit she was currently fuming in. An outrageous lie. And a bad one, at that. Everybody else, though, was practically in favor of their outfits.

While Ms. Twinite rambled rather expressively on about what a wonderful stay they would have to Vexen, who was rather skeptical, everyone else spotted a darkly dressed girl enter, an irritated expression played across her face.

"Hey, who _is that_?" Axel asked Tanya in a suggestive tone, if only he had realized that this would inevitably turn out to be Ms. Twinite's daughter, he probably would've never spoken up.

Must to Zexion's minor -fake- surprise, though, the woman gave them a giant, elated smile and practically shouted, "That's my daughter, Rixah! Well I have to go get the butler, George, now. He'll show you around. Get to know her, please." And then she left, abandoning Rixah with a bunch of strangers of which more than half were considerably older.

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okay everyone, how was it. i know this chapter is, like, 20x s longer than the last, but i had to do it, you know? reviews are appreciated! thanks so much for those of you who have, you guys rock!


	4. Chapter 4: Oh, So Climatic

**hiya peopleZ! here's chapter 4! there's some reference to a friends character in here so i hope she finds it rofl (shes very oblivious)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own KH or Tory/Victoria/Xiactorvi or Nala or anything to do with Fall Out Boy Neither do I own Crystal Cerberus: A Self Insert, or Tainted but Beautiful. *gasps for air because she said it all in one breath***

**all of the fan fictions mentioned are on this site, but i wouldnt recommend the latter to people under the age of 18 o.o . though if you do in fact read it, you may see the small, meek attempts at irony.**

**okay okay okay, i hope i did okay on this chapter. plz review! **

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CHAPTER 4

And, before Rixah was aware of it, she was being crowded by four very different people. The rest, she hastily decided, must've held some shred of sanity.

The most mentally disturbing of the ones around her was the man giggling and breathing down her neck. Though he smelled nice -like roses-, Rixah wasn't about to take kindly to him. He appeared to have layered, pink hair and icy blue eyes, strange, yet seemingly appropriate.

"Hiya, I'm Marluxia, butyoucancallmeMarly! You're Rixah, Rix! Hi, Rix!" Marluxia squealed, then unexpectedly dropped to the floor, unconscious, no doubt.

A red-head with porcupine-hair next to her declared, "Zexion says that some questions shouldn't be asked. I'm Axel, it's a pleasure for you to meet me. The spacey guy next to me with the mullet and weird smile is Demyx, and the blonde over there to your right with the really blue eyes is Roxas. So that's Marly, Dem, and Roxi-"

"Hey!" Roxas interrupted with a offended look. He was definitely shorter than the purple eyed girl, but only a bit younger, she was sure.

"Shush, _Roxi_, you didn't let me finish. That girl over there with the antennas, that's Larxene, I don't think she really has a nick-name, but Marly called her Larxy-anne earlier. Every time someone tries to think of one for her we all end up torn by a woman's wrath... literally. The short kid with the greyish emo-hair is Zexion, but everybody with a sense of _humor_ just calls him Zex, or Zexy. There's a word for that guy... anti-social, i think it is, what do you think, Roxas?"

"That's the one," The blonde eagerly agreed.

"So," he continued, "_anyways_. It's A-X-E-L, got it memorized?"

Oh, was this guy ever getting on Rixah's fragile nerves. He really needed to just shut the Hell up or leave the damn room, because he wasn't doing her temper anything positive. "Rixah, R-I-X-A-H, _do _you_ got it memorized_?" She couldn't resist, seriously, it was the only reasonable response that came to her mind. Also, though Rixah would never admit it, it seemed... well, fun...

"_Well_, a fiery one, aren't we?"

Roxas, at this point, looked unsure whether he should like Rixah, or just run before things got any worse and Axel went up in a puff of smoke, despite him being the essence of fire.

"I don't think I like this attitude of yours very much, Rix," Axel mock-pondered it, then asked, "What do you think, Roxi?"

The spiky blonde then shook his head vigorously. "That's not my name. It's just Roxas, please don't call me Roxi, it's a girls' name."

They boy then glared at Axel.

"So, Rixah, would you like to meet the sadistic people over there?" Axel gestured to the others across the room to the people she'd unjustly classified as "almost sane" earlier.

"N-"

"Great!" Demyx cheered and shoved a highly reluctant Rixah towards the others roughly. Causing Rixah to lose her balance and stumble into the woman known as Larxene, to which she heard a high growl and the teenage Somebody was practically thrown at an expecting Zexion, who fell onto Vexen, who did what could be described as a type of "stop, drop, and roll" motion. Vexen was a really old, scary looking dude...

"Geez," Rixah mumbled after they'd all regained their composure, she rubbed the back of her neck, "what are you made of, brick?"

The Nobody with periwinkle hair frowned. "No, actually, I am not. If you must know, which obviously you either do or you were merely being sarcastic, most of the human body is made up of water, with cells consisting of 65-90% water by weight. Therefore, most of y-" Axel and Roxas were ignoring him and talking about various fish for pets.

"Okay!" Rixah shouted in order to cease his rambling. "I get it, you're _not made of brick_!" He was definitely on her "Irk List". Along with just about everyone else in the accursed room.

Zexion nodded then half-"heartedly" huffed an apology because a lot of the time he didn't realize exactly what he was portraying to another person. He was preoccupied with other, more significant issues, than to explain to a mere _teenage Somebody_ the elements in a human body. Of course, it wasn't his fault, it was out of habit that he did so.

"I need a glass of water," Demyx complained out of somewhere, while Larxene picked up the prone Marluxia and stomped out of the room. Rixah counted off the nasty things that woman was; there were a lot, let's just put it at that. None of which her mother would approve of calling somebody else.

Axel turned and smirked as Zexion brushed himself off. "She's a savage one, _Larxy-anne_ is. Oh, and sorry Zexion's so complicated, hehe. Roxi once thought all girls were like her, and we had to do some _explaining_." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Did not!"

Demyx pulled on Rixah's sleeve, ultimately sealing his fate, and meekly inquired, "Is there... uh...um... a kitchen or something around? I'm getting dehydrated, I think."

"If I don't tell you, will you die? From dehydration, I mean?" Rixah... looked a little _too_ hopeful for Demyx's taste. A sad factor of her existence was that she had a thing for anime-like people. Unfortunately for her, most of the people (if not all of them) resembled the Japanese comic style in some way.

Demyx stared at her with big, blue, chibi eyes. "D-do you want me to die?"

Rixah exhaled irritably, "Out in the hall, five doors down, there's a bathroom with a cup dispenser. Get the water out of the sink, _not the freaking toilet_."

"T-thanks?" He rushed out with a miffed demeanor.

Rixah stared, hard, after him.

The butler appeared in the door next. "Mistress Rixah, are _you_ accompanying us on the tour as well?" The elderly male in a tuxedo seemed a bit stunned. It wasn't everyday the secluded Rixah Twinite materialized from her room to greet guests; and to talk to them too? She must've been having a mental breakthrough.

"Of course not," Rixah snapped at him, stalking presumably to her bedroom, "who am I? Nala? I have better things to do." Well, so much for that.

"So they _are _all like Larxene!" Roxas shouted accusingly after the lavender eyed girl had left.

"Roxi, Roxi," Axel _tsked _lightly, "haven't you been paying attention to Xion at _all_?"

The butler shook his head as the two troublesome Nobodies argued, a wary feeling about him. "There's more to that girl than pranks and a smart-mouth, I'll forewarn you all." It seemed he realized what he was saying, because he quickly began with the tour, despite the missing people. Demyx found them eventually, but neither Marluxia, nor Larxene ever showed.

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Solitary confinement was what her zesty mother jokingly called her daughter's act of locking herself in her bedroom. Though it wasn't that funny, because that was basically it: solitary, self-confinement.

Fall Out Boy blared from her speakers as Rixah analyzed a fan fiction called Crystal Cerberus: A Self-Insert, which was a Final Fantasy VII story. After that, she proceeded to a more mature fiction named Tainted but Beautiful, she wouldn't recommend this one to a person such as Demyx, no matter how old he is. It may scar him for life.

If Rixah's stereo hadn't been busy deafening her, she would've heard the tourists stop at her door and a certain few -Axel- knock, then pound, then kick, and, finally, give up on their attempt to get her out and about. After all, it was a nice day, was it not? It was, in fact, but Rixah could care less.

Out of the parameter of her bedroom walls, a few Nobodies wandered away from the group, one of them coming to a halt at her door. He knocked, but gathered that the best choice of action would be just to walk in, rude as it may have been; for he, unlike others, needed intelligent conversation once in a while, no matter how long the wait.

It was messy and, apart from the music that was louder than anticipated, not much worse that Zexion's own room. Rixah was perched on her bed with ear buds in her ears (what she needed those for, Zexion would never know, and neither would anyone else, that was one of the many mysteries of an almost-normal Somebody) and turned away from him. He couldn't blame her for it, but it bugged him that the girl wouldn't even register his presence.

The Schemer inhaled and blinked in minor confusion, something he wouldn't have done had he been used to his dulled sense. But as he eyed the perfume bottle on her dresser, he understood. Funny how the different smells didn't give him head-aches as they once did. Despite that, his nose was still better than your average persons.

Full knowing that it was unnecessary and absolutely none of his business, Zexion's cobalt blue eye drifted to her lap top's screen, he soon averted his gaze. He took note of the many series of vampire books that scattered across the floor, debating on whether or not this talk would indeed be intellectual. It wasn't like Zexion to waste time.

When the power button to the stereo was found, Rixah tore out whatever occupied her ears and smacked her computer screen shut, turning, it was enough to say that she'd been expecting her mother to barge in any time just then. Not Zexion. Never Zexion. But it was Zexion, much to her distaste/interest.

She was soft on these people, it was true.

"The statistics that say you will go deaf in a decade or so are not in your favor," Zexion told her dryly.

Rixah kept her comments to herself for what she hoped would be the last time. "Do you need something? Want to know were a mirror is so you can fix your pretty, grey, emo hair?" Okay, so maybe not all of her comments...

Zexion was leaning towards discontinuing that and walking out of the room. He wasn't going to bother pointing out that his hair was not grey, nor emoish. Well, he couldn't actually say that, but it was not his fault that he was most comfortable with it like that. He didn't really "fix" it either. It was naturally how it was.

"I need another persons opinion actually, and I have received the impression that you possess substantial amount of I.Q. points. Usually I would not need anothers' opinion, and, If I did, I would go to Vexen, but alas, he is immersed in something else that is in his theory, more important than I at the moment. He will not speak to me until he is finished, I find this aggravating and am beginning to feel something near impatience."

"W-what?" Rhetorical. The way the Cloaked Schemer spoke unsettled her and intrigued her simultaneously. It was abnormal.

His cold eye hinted that he was irritatedly amused. If that were even possible. Maybe it was the lighting?

"Look," she reasoned well... reasonably, "if you're going to stand there and look at me like I'm an idiot, would you kindly leave?"

Zexion ignored her and began, "If you were assigned a mandatory vacation, needing one in no way, right after an event of questionable significance had taken place but a few hours before, would you find this suspicious?"

"Your situation, right?" Zexion nodded a conformation. "Your boss gave you the vacation?"

"Forced it upon us, rather, but yes." Zexion crossed his arms.

"Is he serious about work."

"Annoyingly so."

"Example?"

"Obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Rixah concentrated hard, unconsciously staring at Zexion's shoes that she undeniably wanted badly but never found the time to purchase. They were men's shoes, but they looked awesome.

"Yeah. I would be."

"I suspected as much. There is more to this "vacation" than implied to us, I believe," the emo-haired boy murmured more to himself. "By the way, interesting choice in reading." He gestured towards the laptop behind her and walked out.

Rixah's cheeks burned in embarrassment. How long had he been in her room, anyways?

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"How long, will you estimate?" Sai'x asked as they watched the different scenes that played around them of seven of the fourteen members.

Xemnas sat, business-like, on his office-chair. "It depends on the member. We do not appear to be making any substantial progress with this. It seems we will have to clue Number VIII in, after all."

"Who is the most likely candidate?"

"The reports state that the Nobody with the least involuntary memories that has retained his or her form is the one who will have the largest shard."

Sai'x scanned the list on a nearby board. "So, VI then?

"Indeed. Marluxia may have been the more logical choice but as you already know he is... acting on his own of the late. Number VI is onto our ploy. We need to improvise. Bring me VIII."

Sai'x sneered and said, "This should be amusing."

"Indeed, Sai'x, indeed."

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Nighttime. The time in which Rixah proceeded with her rounds. Today was different. Today she was unstable. Her chest hurt from all of the crying. It wasn't her fault that she cried randomly, Rixah blamed teenage hormones.

She opened her window near her bed and climbed through. Usually she would've taken more precautions. Tonight was not usually. She climbed onto the roof of the porch and climbed down the conveniently located drain pipe to her right.

It was eerily quiet, or it would've been had it not been for the _clank_ing sound that was produced every time her foot hit a latch that kept the pipe against the mansion's outer wall.

Rixah figured she wouldn't need a flashlight because the moon was full and out. She thought that because it hadn't rained in a while that she didn't need to be careful when going down.

Climatically, she slipped and nearly fell ten feet.

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**mmmm. how was it? long, i know! reviews reviews reviews! believe it or not, they make me happy!**


	5. Chapter 5: Axel's InSanity

**sup my lovely readers of whom i love so much ^.^**

**im thanking you all for the reviews and im so sorry that i havent updated earlier but...i, um... you know... i keep getting grounded.**

**on another note!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Square Enix.**

**and thanks to a person i met on neopets *of which i do not own ;) * for privately to critic my work but she said that there wasnt anything i could improve on... whats the fun in that? well, i suppose you need a person who really knows kh to critic for personalitys and such. thats where reviewers come in then! TY**

**okay, heres the solution to the cliffy on ch 4! plz review! i wuvs reviews, you know. Its like my cookies, or, rather, Missspidersami's chocolate, because she is crazy for that stuff, and by crazy, i mean psychotically obsessive. its not easy providing her with chocolate...**

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CHAPTER 5

Axel, our good pyro, snuck craftily into a certain Schemer's bedroom to awaken him. The redhead knew that Zexion didn't wake up if he didn't feel that the smell was a threat. Apparently burnt toast was a threat, because every time the Flurry crept in to pull a prank before Zexion rolled off his bed and portaled to get Xemnas to "tattle" -as Xigbar called it-.

So Axel had taken Rixah's perfume and sprayed more than half the bottle to cover up his involuntary body odors. Okay, so the purpose of this _was_ to wake him, but Axel was supposed to remain inconspicuous for the time being, much to his displeasure.

VIII had heard Rixah stir in her room, and concluded that this would be the best time to get the two to meet officially, well, not _officially_. Unofficially, maybe. Unless... Axel shook his head in confusion, then smirked. He knew Rixah's habits of going out and vandalizing stuff at night. This would be put to his advantage, for sure.

The perfect opportunity to contribute to his mission and have some fun in the process.

The _actual_ circumstances and the facts of why exactly he was during this were partially shrouded to the Nobody, but Axel knew that it was a necessary element of regaining their hearts back. That would be enough... for now, at least.

Anything it takes...

And luckily this would turn out better than planned.

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Zexion got up slowly, not to mention reluctantly, regaining the awareness of his breathing patterns. He stopped not to long ago it seemed.

When he did notice it, and inhaled, however, he quickly found out that there was WAY too much chemicals in the air, and developed a splitting headache. The clock on the far side of the room indicated it was a bit past midnight, so why would he get up? Originally the Schemer would try to obtain as much rest as possible. He especially needed it now that he was more likely to encounter other, more irritating people since the living quarters became minimized to a mere household structure.

The smell was soon recognized as Rixah's perfume. She didn't really put that much on, did she? No. Something was off here.

Even so...

Zexion threw his covers off and snatched his shirt off of the floor, that being the only article of clothing he had discarded before proceeding to get some sleep, well, besides his boots -and cloak, when he had it-. The periwinkle haired Nobody exhaustively slipped on the footwear and followed the scent.

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Axel rapidly sprinted out to the pipe, trailing the smell to the spot where Rixah would touch dirt, then used a dark protal to get to his room. The timing had to be precise for the two to meet up. The Superior allowed him his teleportation powers back, so why not put them to productive use?

And a laugh. This was also for Axel's sanity too, make no mistake.

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Meanwhile, Rixah frantically choked back a yelp. Unfortunately she didn't possess what would be considered "a substantial amount of upper arm strength", so that didn't exactly help the cause of not breaking more than five bones much...

The brunette _did_ gasp when she accidentally bit her tongue.

Footsteps came crashing from below then suddenly disappeared below.

Whoever it had been didn't seem to notice her, lest it be Rixah's imagination and there was really nobody there...

Aww, was she hallucinating now? That was just damn wonderful.

The blood was sweet in her mouth as Rixah continued to inevitably struggle against gravity. If there was ever a time to hate gravity, it was when you were unwillingly about to fall ten feet onto small rocks and tough dirt. That would be best, probably. Maybe. Hate is a strong word. Rixah semi-consciously debated whether or not to use it anymore on life. Not, she supposed. Now it would only be-

"Isn't that particular position seen as a danger to most?" An all-too familiar voice questioned with a monotone note from below. Yay. Her hero. And such...

"Hurry up and get me down, moron!" She ground her teeth and awaited her rescue, very much aware -since she wasn't stupid- that it was a gag cliche. Rixah never take well to stuff like that.

There was an impatient tap and Rixah could just imagine his visible silvery-blue eyebrow go up critically. "And just what do you expect me to-"

"Make yourself useful and," the teenage Somebody released her grip, "catch!"

Wow. It felt good to let go. And it was a rush. Like, when you fall in a dream and then wake up and lay there heavily inhaling/exhaling for five minutes. Rixah could only fleetingly hope that the anti-climatic boy wouldn't take the time or effort to move out of the way like in the cartoons. That would suck.

Oh, he caught her all right. Possibly dislocating his shoulder in the process, but it still got the job done. Not her problem.

Was it mentioned that he was knocked back onto the ground? Because he was.

Poor Zexion.

The oxygen was knocked out of them both. That being an idiom, of course. Nothing actually knocked the air out of them. Okay, so that may not have been true for Zexion.

"You," Zexion uttered with a gasp mixed in, "fall heavily." He was obviously out of it for the moment.

The Cloaked entity received a pitiful groan as a reply.

A silent moment passed. Rixah cautiously sat up with effort clearly put in and declared, "I took you as the type that wouldn't give others the time of day for a nice gesture."

"It's night, but generally speaking, you are correct. I did not have the agility to evade you, is all," Zexion indifferently defended himself.

Rixah eyed him suspiciously. "You know, you look my age, but you talk more like my mom's psychiatrist, except you're uncaring and tend to not ask questions about your patient's daughter's well-being."

There was a light snort at that. "I do not see my speech habit as a negative thing."

The purple eyed girl was quiet, then stood and brushed all of the loose dirt from her clothing. "Well, thanks, I guess. I'm off then."

"To where, may I ask?" Was the inquiry, when he got up as well.

"As if you care where I go," Rixah scoffed knowingly.

Zexion crossed his arms and closed his eyes -the eye she could see, at least- for a prolonged second, nodding, as if that was a good enough excuse.

"Nighty-night then." There was slight sarcasm as he walked away, though Rixah was the one who stated the words.

Suddenly Zexion stopped, still facing away. "Were you going up that drain pipe, or down it?"

"Down. Why?"

"No reason," he muttered, lying -but it was dismissed- and resumed his pace.

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"Hmm... I believe that this project may only be accomplished the girl is set first."

Sai'x nodded in solemn agreement with his Superior. What else was knew?

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Stupid, stupid, stupid. Next time she would take notable precautions. Rixah, in her absent-minded flailing, had even woken someone up! That had never happened before. Then again, maybe Zexion was already up and had just heard her.

Rixah didn't know, though she was certain that this would be a interesting period of her life.

Her pocket knife slipped across the side of the truck then made it's way down to the dark tires.

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"Mumma, _where is dad_?" A much younger looking Rixah demanded in a whiny voice, a tiny hair-tie on top her head. She'd just gotten off the yellow bus from the kindergarten place she went to "acheive vital learning skills". Usually dad was waiting for her but today nobody was. The toddler cocked her head.

Tanya drew a shaky breath and told her slowly, "D-daddy left, hunny."

Rixah's purple eyes lit up. "Ice-cweam? Did you tell him ice-cweam?"

Her blonde mother shook her head and gave a false smile. "He- he's not coming back, sweety. He went to... Florida."

"Florida?" Rixah repeated. "Dad...- that's far-... Daddy doesn't... Derek at school, his dad left. Dad doesn't love us anymore, does he?"

"N- baby, you have to understand that daddy can't be-"

"No. He don't. Daddy doesn't love us." Rixah pursed her tiny lips and her purple eyes became glassy. Her mother was trying to make it better by sweetening it up. Rixah knew. She may not have known how to put it into words what her mom was doing, but Rixah _knew_. She was aware that her mother was manipulating her. And somewhere in Rixah, she was thankful for that, but it hurt her to think that her daddy didn't love her- hurt her to think... that her mother was trying to make it seem better than it was. Why couldn't she just tell her daughter straightforward that kind of stuff? Why was it covered with sweets only to give her more of a stomach ache later on?

Tanya burst into tears at Rixah's broken demeanor.

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Zexion shifted under the thick covers of the bed. He couldn't rid the infernal smell of flowery perfume that a person who was not Rixah sprayed so that his headache was no longer affecting his thinking actions. A set up, for sure. Whoever it was knew Rixah would be running off that night. The issue that needed to be addressed: who would want to impersonate her and what was the purpose of going out of his/her way to Zexion's room? There were eight possible answers; half of them were probable, and all of them needed special, unlikely conditions.

A separate smell didn't fork from the pipe when she was dangling. It just... disappeared. Well, melded, really. That was most likely the dark portals at work, correct? So that discarded everyone that was rooming in the mansion. Or did it? And Rixah wasn't lieing to him when she said that she'd been climbing down the drainage pipe.

"What are they playing at?" The Cloaked Schemer muttered.

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**okay so, yeah! theres ch 5. kind of long, isnt it?**

**reviews are loved and cherished and adored and otherthingsofwhichicannotthinkofatthisparticularpoint! They're also thought of as very motivational 0.o i have an idea... maybe you should review. yeah, you, in front of the screen *pokes* ill give you an imaginary puppy thats fur doesnt provoke allergic reactions *waggles eyebrows* unless you dont like puppys 0.0 then ill give you a kitty, or something. but i can only provide imaginary mammals, no bugs or such. and you only get one!**

**yay, go team! yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6: Flowers Can Be Unhealthy

**ah, the mental trauma of working with these guys while trying to prevent ooc, m.s., and other negative writing entities.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that I haven't signed a copy-right form for. Is there such thing as that? Fine, I don't own anything Square Enix.**

**haha. check it out, its chapter SIX, eh? srry././. bad joke. **

**/blah/ is mouthing words.**

CHAPTER 6

"Wakey, wakey, eggs 'n bakey!" A man's voice screeched rather girlishly in the doorway of Rixah's room itself, signing his pre-death contract in blood and earning a decent-sized solid object chucked at his head.

"XI," Zexion's voice shook with breaking patience from somewhere down the hall, "have you not taken to any sense of your normality? Under more... understandable circumstances I would not bring myself to say this, but I have received a lack of sleep as of last night; you are clearly deranged, so therefore this morning differs from most. I am tired; _please_ get it through your thick, flowery skull containing your significantly lowered I.Q. points that I, among others, wish for you to _shut up_." A door slammed somewhere down the hall. Zexion probably had an even more terrifying wake-up call for him to be so snappy.

Then again, Rixah wasn't so thrilled either.

"Com'_on_," Marluxia complained with too much motivation, "it's a new day, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and everyone else is up 'cept for you two!" Clearly this mauve haired bundle of joy was regaining some kind of composure for he was now capable of talking in complete sentences.

"Get out of my hearing range," the brunette let out a muffled, yet menacing, growl, "or else I will rip off all four of your limbs and bury your bloody body under that petty little garden in the back."

"Where will my limbs go- wait, does that mean you're not gunna get up? I really-" he was interrupted by a ferocious-looking girl sitting halfway up dressed in yesterday's clothing, putting him on the taking end of the most blood curdling glare she was capable of. "You know, i-it's not very lady-like to-"

Unfortunately the Graceful Assassin had forgotten -courtesy of Vexen's potion- that he could take on a hundred replicas of this girl and more, even without his scythe.

Any other time, Rixah would've laughed hysterically at the silky, red pajamas; right then she merely flew out of bed and attacked him with brutal force. He started screaming within a few moments. No joke.

Zexion cautiously reopened the entrance to his room to be a witness of the all-powerful Marluxia falling face-first onto the wooden floor, tackled by a violet-eyed female delinquent. Rixah pinned him and pulled harshly on his layered hair.

"Zexy, help!"

Sucked to be him because Zexion decided to watch for amusement now. He highly disliked the nicknames created by the other members, they were dubbed as distasteful and absolutely unnecessary. Not to mention the words that they purposefully rhymed with. Vile, should the truth be told.

Rixah jumped up, kicked the already-in-pain Nobody in the stomach with a bare foot, then stomped off to her room, muttering quiet curses.

As soon as soon as she had returned to her sanctuary, Marluxia cried out, "She's scary!"

"Only toward idiots, I'm afraid. Or, not, rather, because I am obviously more intelligent than most, offense not intended." Zexion paused, thinking of how to correctly word his next inquiry, "I trust you are not _on_ anything, XI? The Superior will not approve of that, as I am sure you are aware. Then again, as I rethink that, you probably hardly remember I's wrath in this state of mind."

"Oh, of course I'm on something." Marluxia shot him a 'you're the idiot, not me' look and continued, "The floor, duh."

Zexion resorted to a pity-filled shake of the head, then recoiled to inside the parameter of the space behind him and made sure to make use of any, and all locks available.

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About an hour or so later, more than half of the semi-powerless Nobodies had left to explore the town of Bright Hill. None of them liked the name much, but they had to suffer. There were only two of them that remained inside of the mansion; one scheming, and one sleeping. This was actually sort of ironic considering that the person doing the scheming was Axel.

Rixah got up approximately 15 minutes ago, now her laptop was on hand and she, on top of her bed.

Axel was crouched outside of Zexion's door, silently thinking. The spiky red-head wore a black and silver Nickleback tee-shirt and baggy jeans. He didn't have any shoes on though.

Spare key... spare key... where would it be?

"Oh, duh. Geez, what am I, an actor?" Axel paused as he returned to Rixah's doorway. "Riiight." Axel knocked, then took a gamble and pulled it so passage was allowed.

"Hey, manners?" Rixah murmured, partially distracted, eyes locked to the screen.

Axel mimicked one of Demyx's sheepish grins. "I lost my key, o' mighty one. Don't suppose you've got a spare?"

"Ask the butler. I'm not a go-to girl."

Unbecoming embarrassment, to indecorous conceitedness. Axel's trademark, devious smirk came back involuntarily, causing instant eye-contact and suspicion. "Can't find him, got it _memorized_?"

Rixah supposed it could be amusing to see what he wanted the key for. Or not, as she would soon figure.

"Sure, sure." She blew hair out of her face. "The fern. It's green, F.Y.I."

"Thanks, friend." He gave her a short wave and turned, leaving.

Rixah grumbled, "don't count on it." The scroll bar flitted down the black and white page. She was a speed reader. Go figure.

Suddenly Axel's voice invaded her concentration, "Hey, Rix, I think somethings burning in this room!"

The "clever" Flurry was all-too aware that his fellow Schemer only awoke when there was a threatening smell/presence in his sleeping quarters. Strange, but convenient. Another lucky fact was that the steely haired Nobody had gotten used to all of the rackett that the other members created over course of non-time that they had been at the castle.

Time didn't really exist in The World That Never Was. So therefore, since Nododies didn't exist either, they -you guessed it- didn't age. At all. That was a plus for everyone except poor Roxas, who was still young.

Rixah's figure poked out from the doorway, her hair a wreck and her violet iris's curious, yet expecting something bad. "Six?"

"Zexion. We have our assigned numbers." Axel shrugged, but made sure to still make small gestures that led someone to think something was wrong. Like frantically glancing over at the door every now and then. "Hey, don't ask me, I'm just VIII, got it memorized? Seriously, though, I think somethings aflame in there."

Rixah sniffed the air, there was indeed smoke; so why weren't the fire-alarms going off?

"Isn't he awake?"

"Hell if I know! It's locked!" He half-yelled with a little too much vigor.

"So... knock."

"... I don't wanna, what if the other side of the door is burning up and I knock it down and get hurt in the process?" Axel complained after some thought on his answer. He hadn't seen this one coming.

...

...

...

"Damn it, Axel, are you serious?" Rixah stumbled her way dawn the hall towards him. She hadn't gotten a chance to stretch her muscles, the attack on that one guy (?) didn't count because she was half asleep and returned to her bed afterwords. The scent of smoke got stronger and the alarms still failed -miserably- to go off in the whirl of loud, obnoxious beeps that they usually did. She reached the potted plant which was located to the right of Zexion's door and let her fingers feel the way through the giant, leafy foliage.

Upon touching the small piece of metal, she outwardly cursed Axel's incapability, unlocked the door, and tramped inside the dark room, eyes scanning the room for any sign of fire. There was none. In fact, she could no longer even smell the smoke. Well, that was rather screwy.

Axel, still out in the corridor, slammed the door, and pushed the unreasonably heavy -even for Axel- plant in front of it.

Rixah had been duped. Horribly. To the unseemly point that there wasn't one. A point, she meant. There was most certainly _not_ a point to the ridiculous movement that Axel had made.

"Be seeing you!" Axel called aggravatingly, despite Rixah not being able to hear him.

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"Axel, you're such a moron," Rixah turned after she heard the slam, for she had said this before it.

Rixah tried the knob to no avail. "Axel?! Hey, you'd better be joking around!" Why couldn't the door just open inverted, like others of its kind? That would make her life so much easier, truly, it would. Being stuck in a dark room with a total (ly obnoxious/smart ass of a) stranger with no conceivable escape route wasn't exactly on her "to do" list.

Rixah looked over at the bed to notice a shirtless Zexion sitting up, staring at her with a blank demeanor.

Even the headstrong Rixah blushed furiously as he politely inquired, "I believe I have the right to ask, what the hell you are doing in my room, staring at me as if you have something wrong with your sanity. I do hope I have not been conversing with a lunatic." Then he mentally added, thinking of Xemnas and others, _I am saying this like I do not speak with psychotic people everyday, which would be far from correct_.

Rixah quickly buried her hormonal thoughts as she stated, "Axel happened. He tricked me into thinking that something was burning in here. I came in and he put something heavy in front of the door, so I can't get out. And don't be so pissy about it."

Zexion silently left the uncomfortably of his bed and searched the dresser drawers for a suitable shirt. When he found none, he settled for a dark blue, long-sleeved American Eagle shirt. Rixah momentarily glared at his choice. He found it to be quite comfortable. Next he walked past her and tried the door.

"Do we have anything that we could unscrew the hinges with?" Rixah asked innocently before he had the chance to open his mouth and ask the very same thing.

They searched the room for anything usable. None of the member's had their own personal bathroom like Rixah. Nothing.

The Somebody squirmed in her spot. "Maybe if we yell-"

"You live here, so you should be aware that the walls are soundproof in the rooms," he interrupted nonchalantly.

It was times like these when the two wished they had something they didn't. Rixah: her cellphone; Zexion: his ability to create a dark portal. At least his sense of smell was cut in half, creating less migraines.

"I can smell the dirt from the pot. It's blocking the door. Other than that, I cannot smell anything over your perfume." A frown crossed his face characteristically, then reluctantly went to the door, judging his chances of forcing it open. First, though, he chanced it on his own. Fail. He gave Rixah a meaningful glance, and she obliged by putting all of her weight against the door as well.

Failure, once again.

Rixah slumped to the tan carpet and Zexion straightened, thinking.

"Dammit, this is stupid! How does a stick like Axel move that?"

"Believe me when I tell you that we are not all as we appear. I am... not comparable to VIII in strength." He hesitated, about to say more, but firmly decided against it.

Zexion's room was basically void of anything besides books, cloths, and furniture. Didn't this room used to have a lamp, or light? It must've been uninstalled when he moved in. Freaky.

Most of it clicked to the Schemer. Axel clearly was trying to get them to do something vulgar within the confining space. He relayed this to Rixah, and she was less than pleased.

A flurry-like rainbow of colorful words escaped her mouth and she sulked even further down as soon as she ran out of ways to say them. Zexion was semi-aware of the agreements he made on Rixah's views of Axel's intelligence level. The next few minutes were uneventful. So they just wait? Until how long? Some people had to use the restroom once in a while. It was 1:27 so lunch-time passed.

Rixah was pretty ticked, if this wasn't obvious.

There was a ceiling fan, which Zexion graciously flipped on.

A gasp escaped Rixah's mouth and her eyes traveled across the room, to the wall.

It was dark, so Rixah got close enough to his face so that they could see each other sufficiently enough. Zexion's cobalt iris glowed at her, expectant, then fell over to where she was staring. A smirk took an agonizingly long time to fully place itself on his face. An elaborate plan, it was; fool-proof.

Check and mate. They were good, no, better than good, they were wicked sick -in a good sort of way- and definite genii. Okay, so maybe she wasn't _that _awesome, but close enough to come up with a plan that even an emo-nerd could agree to.

Rixah's face fell when she realized that she was being no better than those stereotypical jerks. What a predictable human trait, and she quickly decided that it wasn't her fault. She was brave, and at least she did something about it.

"Zexion?" She inhaled his scent. Nothing. He smelled like nothing. How strange.

He leaned away, speaking flatly with zeugma, "You are invading my personal boundaries, but we have no way to take the cover off."

"Maybe... mm... never mind."

"Do you have a way out?" The teen boy sighed with an eye roll.

"Two words: air vent."

The air vent. It was big enough so that they could climb through it, both being nearly the same height. But it required a screwdriver. What a pain; luckily she took eighth months of karate before she became bored of it _and_ the people that took the class alongside her. Perfect to knock of of it's hinges. That would allow them swift passage to -insert cringe here- Marluxia's room, or they could fork off, but she'd only used the ones that went straight to other rooms.

"Zexion, we have strayed to unnecessary," she paused after she'd moved under the vent on the wall, then continued with a mimicking tone, "solutions that require too much insertion of physical labor. Help me get high enough to smash this cover off the wall. Safely."

Books, unsteady, but neither of them wanted to push the dresser over, for it was lucid that it was heavy, and they'd both suffered enough. Actually, Zexion didn't want to do anymore and Rixah couldn't push it across the room without breaking it. Let's face it, they're both lazy at... umm... heart; you get the idea.

She sniffed and glared up at the ventilation shaft. Today was not a nice day. She was hungry, tired, annoyed, and, above all, she had to go to the bathroom. Hey, it wasn't her fault that she complained.

As for the Schemer, he was mentally abdomishing himself for not asking about the vent earlier, it crossed his mind about it, sure, but they couldn't break through metal. This was a much more promising procedure than the last. He supposed she would find an effective course to take in order to remove the cover that blocked their passage to escaping.

"I'm going to kick it off, but I need shoes, so give me a boot."

Zexion raised a periwinkle-blue eyebrow at her and kicked over a black, leather boot, to which she mumbled thanks and put it on. It wasn't that big on her, so Rixah covered a snicker.

Horrible, and he caught it, just chose to appear irritated to no end instead of flicking rude commentary her way. But he did need some form of payback, but that could come later. For now, he had to get the girl up the vent.

In the end, they pushed the dresser over there, seeing no other available options.

The violet-eyed brunette climbed up and readied herself for major foot pains. Tolerance for the pain wasn't an issue at all, it was merely the fact that it put her in bad moods. Like a switch. Well, technically not a switch because she was usually in a foul one beforehand.

Nevertheless, with her hand on Zexion's shoulder as support, she brought her foot up with all the power she'd heckled Marluxia with that morning against the edge of the vent's cover. The metal cover flew off with a clang, and Rixah did a 180 into Zexion's preppy, blue shirt, knocking him over once more. The cover had roughly hit the wall, undoubtedly harshly denting it and ruining the paint in that area.

Zexion grunted at the impact, where Rixah had already used all of her oxygen to knock the air vent open. This time it was a harder impact and Rixah flew three feet away when he collided with carpet, slamming into the hefty pile of books stacked near the evil door of doom.

"Axel. Is. D-E-A-D, got it memorized?"

"I assure you that I hold no intentions of stopping your rampages involving VIII and bruising his egotistical ways."

"Good," they both warily got up. Rixah climbed on top of the dresser, then into the metal ventilation system. A bit of the way through it, she noticed that Zexion did not, in fact, come up behind her. "Are you even coming?" Her voice echoed irkingly.

"Are you implying that you are incapable of persuading Marluxia to move the plant?"

"I never agreed to that..."

"I have bad allergies."

She shook her head in discontent and continued to crawl. Just a tad more and Rixah would be able to shout into Marluxia's room. Hopefully he would be in his room.

Once she reached it, she called out , "Hey, Marluxia, are you in there?" There was a obnoxious sniff, and then a huff.

"Yes. What do you want? I wish to not be tackled again." Huh, strange. He almost sounded normal. Wait, he _did_ sound normal.

Rixah peeked through the filters on the cover.

Nope, by the looks of his room, asking him to move the plant shouldn't be difficult at all. They had another thing coming.

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**alright, longest chapter yet, and i even have this all in my binder and had to cut it short! of course, i had to completely change the ending or else it wouldve been a scary cliche (of which i dislike).**

**id like to remind you all that the more reviews i get, the faster i will update. its just one of those things, you know? i never feel like writing anymore if i know people arent reviewing. good/constructive/bad, idc. i cant help you if you dont tell me what i could improve on. sure, i dont appreciate flames, but ill take them if they can help me. **

**thanks to Missspidersami and Raining Moon Song for being here for me ^.^ you guys rock organization XIII's socks (if they wear any). also, i have some ideas for the sequel and how this one is going to end. im going to try to stick to the original story as much as i can (i think theres a word for that). as for now, im dont think im even halfway done!**

_REVIEW and what do you guys think of me quoting songs before i start on chapters? is it too overly used, or what?_


	7. Chapter 7: Minus Two

**look at me go! chapter seven already, im on fire! -blame axel-**

**i WAS going to start quoting songs for this, but i decided to MAYBE save that for the sequel cause that one is going to be more serious than this one. What do you guys think about that? plus i wouldnt want to start quoting halfway through :'(**

**i have most of this story prewritten, but major changes have caused my binder to remain three chapters behind, so its kinda hard to keep track...**

**Disclaimer: You know, I almost forgot this part.... I don't own anything that Square Enix has rights to. If I did, it would be a sad day for Sora and Kairi (but not Riku, cause he's S.P.I.F.F.Y). I also don't own Dairy Queen, lol.**

CHAPTER 7

Marluxia's room, it was safe to declare, was filled with nature. There was a giant plant blocking her view from much of the space, but from what she could observe, there were flower petals and plant pots _everywhere_. It smelled fantastic and the actual flowers looked amazing, not to mention the array of colors they seemed to be portraying. Pretty didn't cover it.

Suddenly the plant in front of the vent cover bent down and Marluxia stood with a glare in its place.

"Speak, woman."

...

Rixah tried to control her voice, after all, she had to earn brownie points with this guy somehow. "Axel blocked the door in Zexion's room after tricking me inside. Could you get me out, then help me move whatever's blocking it? ....Please?"

Marluxia grinned evilly. "Why of course not. Little girls shouldn't hit their peers."

Suffice it to say: Rixah was practically foaming at the mouth. Curses flew out of her mouth non-stop at the Assassin like bees to a flower.

"Silence." And Rixah shut up. "I will assist you, at a price."

The bolts were unscrewed, yet Rixah was skeptical. "Price?" she asked and climbed out of the vent.

If Zexion had such allergies, why wasn't his vent closed off? What a liar.

Something curled around Rixah's ankle and she looked down to see a think, green vine. How was that possible? Vines didn't move that fast, did they?

She cussed, then attempted to kick it off, but it was cutting the circulation off and lifting her upside down. Once she was four feet up in that air, she shouted, "Zexion, your such a-"

The brunette cut off and screamed a high C as a giant venus fly trap revealed itself from a darker corner of the room. By now, of course, Larxene had appeared and was madly cackling.

"D-damn it to hell!" She struggled, then tried to reach for her ankle. Not to get the vine off just yet, no, but to unhook the pocket knife from her anklet. What could she say? She was paranoid. And for good reason, it seemed. Unfortunately she couldn't reach, so she resolved to just hanging there and glaring daggers at the two evils.

"Damn. It. To. Hell." She repeated with reiteration.

Larxene gave another freaky giggle, then pointed to the vent. "Ohh, look, its _the Schemer_. Ha. What a joke. Are you gonna read me a story, shorty?"

"Larxene," Zexion said, jumping down, "do not tempt me to do just that. XI, put the girl down."

"Zexion," Marluxia said, putting on a horrified look, then reverting in an instant, "she's a _Somebody_. I should think that you of all people would like to see her suffer."

Zexion replied with venom lacing into voice, "Obviously that is not the case. Set her down. That is an order, Number XI."

Marluxia grumbled something incoherent, then nodded.

And the plants released their grip, leaving Rixah to fall onto Zexion.

"This is starting to be an issue," Rixah uttered, then got up quickly.

Zexion stood and glared at the chuckling Nymph and Assassin. "Obviously so. Marluxia, this particular collection of greenery is prohibited, therefore when we return I will be reporting this."

"Do what you want. Just leave."

So they did. When they got out into the hallway, the door shut behind them, and they were left alone.

"I hate him."

Zexion nodded in agreement. They decided to bother with the plant pot later, after some breakfast. Or lunch... or... dinner.... Well, just food in general. Rixah, of course, had to use the bathroom first. It took Rixah eighteen minutes to finish in there, and, him, ten to ask himself why he was waiting for her and to move on.

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"This is taking longer than I had first thought," Xemnas said slowly.

"It's that ingrate, Number VIII," Sai'x practically spit the numeral.

Xemnas shook his head and declared, "the fact that they can withstand each-others company will be enough for now."

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After _that meal_, Rixah went back to her room and showered.

She hadn't seen Axel yet, but when she did, oh he was dead.

What had that idiot been thinking? That couldn't have been more embarrassing. Well, it could have, but it was better not to dwell on _that_ right now. The horrible part was that it made her hyper for some reason.

Ah, teenage hormones.

Rixah cursed them, then got ready for a hectic day and snatched her I-pod and cellphone up -putting her cell in her pocket-. Then the violet-eyed brunette shoved the ear-buds into her ears and turned her I-pod on. It was already as loud as it could go, much to her disfavor. She then proceeded to mentally admonish herself.

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Axel, on the other hand, gave a triumphant smirk and a shake of the head at the girl's ignorance as to what they really were. Or was it what they weren't? The latter, definitely.

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Rixah's cellphone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to check and see who it was. Her cell was sleek and black. It had little grey hearts decorating it, too.

It was Tanya Twinite.

Rixah flipped it open. "What is it, mom?"

"Have you made new friends, hun? The butler is keeping an eye on you all, right?" She asked frantically.

Rixah's eyes softened; a rare occasion, even if it was a tad bit ironic. "Yeah, mom. He is." She completely ignored the first inquiry, though.

"Great! Look, sweety, are you finished getting ready for the funeral yet? I'm downstairs waiting."

"What? Who died?" And why should I care?- was the silent addition.

"Great-grandma Rita died last week! Oh my god, I didn't tell you? I'm so sorry!"

"N-no. Its alright. I'll be right down." Well, Rixah was already wearing black anyways...

Great-grandma Rita was one of the few people that didn't criticize Rixah for her decisions. She'd even tried to show Rixah how to make cookies. As well as that had worked out -badly-, Rixah never did take interest in cooking. Though she was a nice old lady, no digression there.

She was dressed in a thick black sweater and shorts, along with sandals. Her brown hair was left down. Not spiffy, but enough.

On the way to the grave, after the ceremony, her mom said, "now you are going to stay by me at all times."

That was new.

"I'm not two, you know," huffed a suddenly tired Rixah.

"No. But you ARE staying next to me," her mother ordered in a tone Rixah had never heard from the woman before.

When they did get there, Rixah was not surprised at the amount of graves. They got out of their black car and met up with a sobbing grandma Twinite. Rixah took this opportunity to slip away. There was something her mother didn't want her to see. Or at least someone she wasn't supposed to talk to. The last theory could turn out bad though...

The second to last grave shouldn't have stunned her, like it did. It'd always been on her depressing list of theories.

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**_//FLASHBACK\\_**

"Mom, I'm not going anywhere!" an eight-year-old Rixah practically screamed.

"Sweety," her mother attempted to comfort the girl, "we'll move to an apartment..."

"NO! I _hate_ this! Dad wouldn't have made us move! We don't even have any pictures of him anymore! I _can't even remember what he looks like_. Its... like he's dead."

Tanya twitched.

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**_//PRESENT\\_**

If you haven't guessed what had befallen her father by now, then you have the intellect of a small elephant -no offense intended, though I do snicker at you for it. Hehe. There.-

Her father had been gone a long time; that didn't hurt as much as the fact that her own mother _lied_ to her about it.

It wasn't that far back to the mansion. Maybe she could run back and try to forget this ever happened...

A solid whistle startled her from the left. Axel was inside of a truck, waving to her from the driver's seat, looking sympathetic sympathetic, but Rixah wouldn't put it past him that it wasn't for her because he was parked -not to mention holding up a line- on the _Personnel Only_ road.

The brunette stumbled over to the truck, completely discarded the incident from earlier. Her fury then didn't _compare_ to what she was going through now. Sometimes she wished she didn't have to feel at all...

"Hey, kid, sorry. Wanna get in? I won't bite, promise."

Rixah opened, then closed, her mouth. Not trusting her own voice, she nodded slowly but couldn't bring herself to level her gaze with his. She climbed in and he revved to engine, then drove off.

"W-when'd you get a car?" Rixah mumbled, leaning up against the window as the scenery flew by.

Axel leaned over to ruff up her long, brunette hair but kept his eyes on the road. "Hey," he repeated, then sat back, "I thought that was your dad's grave, but, uh, you know..."

_Thought that was your dad's grave, but, uh, you know..._

He was dead. Her only father was dead. He'd just been gone before, and she liked to believe he was dead to her. So much for not harboring any hope.

Before she had time to think recovering thoughts, Rixah finally broke down and her shoulders heaved with hysterical sobs. She couldn't hear what Axel said. Couldn't think. Couldn't focus. Wasn't even aware of her surroundings.

Didn't notice Axel look away, a replica of jealousy hot in his emerald eyes.

Axel pulled a tissue out of seemingly nowhere and handed it to her indifferently. Rixah was not a pretty crier, and her makeup was undoubtedly streaking down her face.

Rixah registered the window rolling down, and was vaguely aware of Axel's non-existent presence. **A/N he just left... not to mean she figured out he wasn't meant to exist. :P**

Somebody walked up to her window. "Your father died in a car crash, correct?" Rixah covered her ears in a half-hearted attempt to ignore him. His voice was cold and uncaring, filled with horrible, impenetrable steel. Yet her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly and she actually tried to quiet herself and listen. "Axel relayed to me the dates on the grave. If you are sixteen, you should not be capable of conjuring any sustainable memories of that man."

"She," Rixah got choked up again, "lied to-me, she _LIED_!" And the crying started up. More amplified than it had started out as.

Needless to say, Zexion felt uncomfortable. He could smell her salty tears and wet, running makeup over the scent of the perfume. When the vehicle had first pulled in and Zexion saw Rixah breaking down in the front seat and Axel step out, he was immediately suspicious of the Flurry of Dancing Flames.

Axel passed the Schemer moodily, saying, "she won't shut up. Be a good boy and buy her some ice-cream. Or at least get IX to do it, got it memorized?" And if you don't, you'll be ashes before you can come up with a smart-ass comment to go along with your decline- was what the mood he was currently displaying portrayed.

Naturally, Zexion was tempted to get Demyx, or even _Marluxia_ to take the girl away. He'd heard on a radio about a place called a "drive in theatre" though, and decided -despite him not able to take well to motion pictures- that he would like to be a witness of their so called "entertainment". If it was bad, he would vow to never waste his time with anything such as that again.

Zexion sighed heavily and went over to the side in which you drove in.

Obtain ice-cream. Let her eat it. Drop her off at one of her friends'. Watch a movie. That was all on his to-do list and more, minus all of the big, "Zexion" words, of course.

They pulled into Dairy Queen and parked.

Meanwhile, Rixah had been controlling the liquid her eyes were exerting and was merely drawing shaky breaths. The Somebody was redoing her makeup in the mirror. Axel had somehow gotten up to her room and back to toss it through the window.

"After this, you can drop me off at this address..."

"Understood." He did a mental eye-roll and thought about all of the things he could be doing insted of this. He really should just leave her there.

**OH, and be sure to review, lol. i had to redo this cause i forgot endnote. what are your opinions on my characterization of axel? **


	8. Chapter 8: Ice Cream

**OMG IM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!!! THE CURSES OF WRITERS BLOCK HAD TAKEN ME!**

**oh, hey, check it out, chapter eight! nvr thought id type it this far...**

**okay, so marlys evil now, but so is traffic. whats worse? i personally would rather be faced with marluxia, that's just me, of course. its in my blood to have at least a little bit of fan-girl genes! rofl... not... really...**

**also, tory, get ahold of me or update cause you KNOW i cannot wait much longer for ToM to be up without exploding into 358/2 different pieces.**

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CHAPTER 1

Zexion, in his rapid leave, did not take the time to pick up his book before his departure -it also was not conveniently given to him by the Flurry of Dancing Flames- and had to sit through Rixah slowly picking at her ice-cream, in a depressed-like fashion.

Naturally he knew he was under no obligation to baby-sit this child, yet the thought of being blown up from the inside did not appeal to him. He was also very well aware that she was a mere 3 years behind him.

They left after a while, but it took thirty minutes to get to Trissania's house and that was just enough time to miss the first half of his movie. The Schemer didn't ask for her to attend alongside him for wrong impressions would've been in order, among other things. This was obvious.

Rixah certainly would've declined the offer had it been presented anyways.

_I will _not _spend anymore unnecessary time with these people_, Rixah internally decided. This was before talking to her mother and attending the funeral thing, but the idea was still half-way in effect. Her mother called again just before they got on the highway, but Rixah told her Axel picked her up, then Zexion took her so she could spend the night at Tris's. Technically this wasn't considered a lie.

The brunette didn't hint that she knew about her dad being dead and all, because that would bring up conversations that she didn't want to discuss right now.

Rixah only apologized minimally for not telling her mother earlier about the sudden departure.

"So, are you going out with one of these boys?" Tanya asked casually after the worry.

Despite Rixah's cell being on speaker, she told her mom the truth about them. The absolute truth. No one could have possibly denied this sort of truth if they think logically.

"Are you joking? These guys are total _freaks_." Rixah rolled her eyes after glancing at the not-paying-any-attention Zexion. He was probably too busy dissecting other matters that hovered above her negative opinions, priority-wise of course.

Soon Rixah hung up and Zexion eased out of his concluding reverie.

"How much longer until we arrive?" Zexion had a migraine once more; not a shocker, if you think about it...

The purple eyed girl gave him an undefinable, yet long stare and said, "about twenty minutes. Take a- yeah, left up there- damn, traffic. ...You've got to be kidding me." Rixah turned to see if they could pull out without doing anything illegal -not that it would help her discreetly corrupted record much-. Nope, four other cars were already behind them. There was major construction in front of them as well, not to mention TONS of backed up cars.

Zexion delicately tapped his index finger on the steering wheel, impatience clear in this gesture.

"Well," Rixah reasoned with his unspoken question, tapping on the digital clock at the same time, "it can't be that long."

Jinxed.

In about a span of three hours, they'd moved a total of two feet. Zexion was keeping himself occupied by sulkily playing with a lighter supplied by Rixah. She was messing with it first, but he confiscated it after she almost set her pants on fire. Now Rixah was utterly bored.

The people behind them didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry because the number kept growing instead of the other way around.

Rixah smashed her head against the dashboard and moaned audibly.

"I hope you realize that by-"

"I realize it, trust me."

After a few more moments, Zexion huffed, "you are a clear hypocrite. You undeniably stated-"

"I know what I said, so BLAH!" She pouted after the snap and slithered further down the seat.

The sun was setting at an alarmingly fast pace. Soon it would be dark out, and the traffic was just inching along.

"Ah, just take me home." The Somebody finally gave into it.

"We have just participated in a pointless drive." It wasn't a question, and if it wasn't for the fact that Zexion was the one in the driver's seat and it wasn't _his_ time being eaten, he may have found it slightly amusing.

Rixah fumed and was set on the saying "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" for the moment.

Zexion pulled out into the grass and made his way out of the car jam.

* * *

Any day now...

* * *

Roxas gleefully stared at his new goldfish rightly named Cake-o. The spiky blonde had just went out and bought it with the money he was given from Tanya.

It was cute, and had a small round bowl with colorful rocks. When Roxas traced his finger on the bowl, it followed.

Speaking of the fish, it needed to be fed.

Roxas walked out of the small room, a smile on his face. He was having fun.

After the blonde left, there was a flash of light, and the tiny fish floated to the surface. Axel, who'd been silently watching nearby, grinned in wicked triumph. He scooped the lifeless fish out of the bowl and replaced it with a similar looking one. This was part of Axel's job, and Roxas wouldn't know what just happened until later. If he ever even asked, that was.

* * *

"So... Number XIII's pretest was successful."

"It... was a fish." Sai'x shook his head in mock-surprise.

Xemnas sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yes, but what works is legitimate."

* * *

When Rixah got home, she immidently noticed Marluxia's door open in their corridor. There were three bedrooms and a bathroom in their hall, not counting Rixah's private bathroom though.

The brunette dared to poke her head in, spotting the head of pink hair stroking a potted plant.

The Graceful Assassin finally noticed her staring at his with a blank look, and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Huh. He sounded put together, mentally-wise, today.

Even so, Rixah gave him a death glare and walked away.

Marluxia sniffed and decided she wasn't as worthy of his attention as the fine specimen before him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zexion confronted Axel.

"What are you playing at, Neophyte?" VI questioned bitterly. They were in the kitchen; Axel was getting ice-cream.

"Dunno what you're talking about, Zex."

Zexion's visible eye twitched at the nickname. "Do not call me that. You know perfectly well of what I'm talking about."

"Riddles. Hey, I don't like them." Axel grabbed a spoon then gave Zexion a sly grin. "Got it memorized?"

* * *

**It's been SO LONG! i would've had this up faster, had it not been for the mistakes of certain people. *COUGHSAMMICOUGH***

**R&R on a happier note, please! also, since i rushed through my revision, if there's anything out of place, just tell me, k?**


	9. Chapter 9: Infultraition Due To Gum?

**okay, i forgot to tell you all that i finally realized there was a page breaker on this thing!!! 3**

**and i finally finished 358/2 days!!!**

**sorry for all mistakes that might be found in this chapter, i was really really REALLY tired**

**and, in response to the wonderful Tales of Memory by my lovely little Raining Moon Song, I dedicate this chapter to tory**

**Disclaimer: I Don't own anything Disney, Square Enix, or Xiactorvi/Tory related.**

* * *

**(heehee, page break)**

* * *

Rixah was worn out, plain and simply put, when she crawled into bed that night. This week was turning out to be a long one. There was just too much to handle. Her father turning out to be deceased. Her mother lying to her. Axel being a complete and official idiot (she really should make him a certificate). Marluxia presumably being a parental figure to his plants. Zexion. Where Larxene had ran off to. Zexion. The plans for world domination being delayed. Zexion...

oh... and Zexion.

This didn't bode well.

It was clear, even to the slightly pessimistic brunette, that she was falling for him, even if it was only a crush. And surprisingly, she accepted this fact.

Though it was a rough trip through her subconscious mind to even get the thoughts out in the open, never mind not ripping it to shreds in the blink of an eye. Maybe she was actually beginning to like more people!

...But... that was just it, wasn't it? He was different.

_They_ were different.

Zexion... his emotions never reached his eyes. He just didn't care, that much was apparent. He was also logical and impatient AND probably either a genius or plotting word domination as well.

He wouldn't win! Everyone knows McDonald's plan surpassed all others. Secretly, Rixah wanted to work at McDonald's for that reason. They could exchange information and such...

That was beside the points.

And then there was Axel. Where to start with this one? She didn't even want to get started on his hair, no matter how awesome it may have appeared to be. There was... so much more behind those emerald eyes then he let show. That, AND he just freaking appeared out of no where, then was gone just like that! Bastard. Why couldn't she do that?

On the bright side, she finally figured out what happened to her dad. Some people would sob hysterically. Rixah, on the other hand, had already been mentally prepared for that moment and now she was just happy it was over and done with.

* * *

Zexion lay face up, uncomfortable on his bed. He needed to speak with Xemnas. But how? It was obvious that Axel had somehow regained his ability to create and dismiss dark corridors. So there was definitely something amiss.

In fact, he was almost tempted to create a scheme to get Axel to tell him all that the red-head knew. Unfortunately, waiting tired him, and today had consisted of too must waiting in general. So he tried to relax.

Eventually he, as well as Rixah, fell asleep in their separate bedrooms.

* * *

Rixah stirred in her sleep. Presumably groaning from the pain she felt in her chest, like a deep, bitter want piercing her heart. Reaching out to it, she almost woke up, but didn't.

What kind of dream state was this? Where there was nothing, yet not.

* * *

Rixah moaned loudly. She either woke up early or slept in late, because the light that usually penetrated through her window and ergo her unopened eyes wasn't shining at all. Damn this pillow was hard.

Fuck.

This wasn't a pillow.

Did she even want to know?

A gasp escaped her lips and her purple irises became visible once more to find themselves pressed against a type of black fabric. Slow breathing was underneath her.

This was a person.

This wasn't...

**_AXEL._**

He could burn in hell, because under her, sleeping quietly, was a blissfully unaware Zexion.

BURN.

IN.

HELL.

Dammit. She was fricking ON HIM!

Rixah didn't do anything stupid, did she? Would she even remember if she did? That small portion of panic subsided as she quickly rolled off of the teen and onto the floor. Nope, this was all Axel, because Zexion wouldn't do anything stupid, let alone anything stupid with another person.

He looked... so different asleep. Like he had no worries. Well he had another thing coming, as they say. Just wait. When his co-worker goes missing in action and he's mysteriously blamed for it, they'll see who had the last ungrateful smirk. Because Zexion sure wouldn't.

Nope, not a chance in hell will he. THAT'S FRICKIN' RIGHT! WALK AWAY! Bastard...

Great, now she was officially insane to add onto it all. =)

It was then that Rixah caught sight of something glowing from underneath Zexion's black, long sleeved American Eagle shit of a shirt. (Never mind that he looked dead sexy in it.)

A good word for Rixah: Contradicting.

This made Rixah curious, as it would anyone. It was a light in the darkness of the room, save the bit sneaking through the cracks in the doorway.

She really should have left... but...

Rixah quietly tiptoed over and reluctantly tugged down Zexion's shirt collar.

_...perverted and..._

Despite all that, she had a nagging feeling that this was something she should see for herself. It turned out to be...

a tattoo, maybe? But it was glowing. And it looked like it was under his skin... deeper, even. It illuminated a pearl color, and looked like a shard. That was all quickly dismissed as there was a loud and obnoxious bang on the door.

"Zexion! Are you ALIVE?! Axel's getting a key!!" Demyx's voice shouted as if he were extremely frantic.

No. NoNoNO.

Rixah made a dive for the bed and played dead next to a prone Zexion. You didn't have to look under the bed to know it was out of the question. Books were crammed.

The closet... she shuddered; not even wanting to know what sort of malicious experiments lurked in there.

Excuses, excuses.

The lock clicked and the door flew open. The sound of boots walking in, then stopping still. Roxas mustv'e been passing by, because he yelled something incomprehensible and presumably came in as well.

Demyx sounded stunned, "What... wh-wh- what- whayyy-whe..." He suddenly found himself, in the confusion, unable to speak.

Zexion shifted next to her, waking up no doubt. Axel's obnoxious laugh resounded off the walls. There was a mocking tone to it.

The periwinkle haired schemer's eyes flew open and he sat up on full alert. Scents. Idiots and... perfume. Enough to give him a lasting headache. It's… wait, -too close?

Zexion blinked at the sight of a soundly sleeping Rixah. His cobalt eyes narrowed and immediately turned to silently stab an accusing at Axel.

Rixah pretended to stir and moan at all of the movements and sound.

"IX, XIII, leave the room now, take the girl with you." Zexion was suddenly vicious enough to send the underlings to scuttle away and completely ignore the last part of the order. No matter. She would leave soon enough. Zexion didn't have time for Axel's petty vision of a joke, no matter what the reason may have been.

Rixah's purple eyes opened up slowly and on Que and she was up and swearing faster than a rock star with his ass on fire. And that was saying something.

In the end she walked out with her head held high and most of her dignity in tact -she'd also swiped the key-. As for Axel, not so much luck.

Rixah flopped onto her own bed in her own room on her own terms and opened up the lab top to quickly check for emails from Tory. Nothing, so she quickly typed up one relaying what had just happened.

The reply was pretty fast. _That's... strange. Maybe you'll understand the tattoo thing if you just ask him, Rix. I kind of feel bad for this Axel guy though. You didn't hurt him too bad, I hope? ... Mom's having a fit, I have to go._

Being a teenager sucked. But it also made things a LOT more interesting. Which was why she only really used teenage characters. More interesting.

She could hear Axel's rather fiery shouts, but didn't understand a word of them; she wasn't even sure if she wanted to.

Rixah stayed on the Internet for a while longer, hoping her friend would pop online to talk, but she could see it was going to be one of those days.

_Nothing to do but wait and see what comes next... life is weird; sometimes I wonder if their really is anyone pulling at the strings from up there... _She paused in the middle of a sentence to think this. Quite a time drainer, as she thought it often. Now more than ever.

Best to dismiss all of it when it did come along though. A distraction. That was it.

And she did need some more gum.

And the weather was not too bad for a walk.

So a walk downtown to get a few packs of gum. Not necessarily a distraction, but it would -probably- be good for her.

Probably.

Rixah shut down her laptop and got ready for the rest of the day by cleaning herself up. Taking a shower and such.

Despite the fact that she probably should have learned a lesson from the last time, Rixah climbed out her window, flipped on her sunglasses, and -more cautiously this time- went down the drain pipe, making sure to check where she was stepping before she stepped. Either way, someone seemed to have fixed the pipe. It wasn't broken anymore. She then began her long, but still nice, walk downtown.

For gum.

This was all for some gum.

Eventually the sidewalk she'd fixated her eyes to lined against brick buildings and the road started to get gradually busier. Rixah's violet eyes caught sight of something yellow in the dark allyway ahead.

It was an eerie feeling, being stared at by the cat, so what did Rixah do?

Better yet, what DIDN'T Rixah do?

She took a crumbled piece of cement and whipped it at the catlike figure, then stuck out her tounge along with a presumptuas peace sign that made her feel rather nogalistic.

She was a mean, mean person when it came to cats. And cereal. It's best not to ask about the latter.

Suddenly deafeningly high pitched screeches came in choppy notes to presumably try and murder her ears; the sounds stopped quickly after. Rixah turned to book it, but was knocked over by two powerful **_FWUMP_**s that hit her back. One after another.

Why didn't anyone notice. Why did they all just walk by?

Why in the fricking hell were there murderous cats hissing and somehow able to knock her over? Her hands broke her fall, but stung like a bitch against the rough cement. Her vision was blacking out...

Why couldn't she scream? Say anything? Help, assholes! Shoot.

Rixah felt her body getting weaker and less able to move under the weight of the cat things. There seemed to be more of them now.

"Dammit," a usually obnoxious voice cursed, breaking the silence of nothing. "Focus, Rixah. I'll get them off, you just focus on something, got it memorized?" So not answering that.

There was a whirring sound... and then a clang resounded. She was supposed to focus? On... anything? Pointless... much? But she did focus. On thoughts of a certain Schemer.

Let's face it, who doesn't focus on him once in a while?

But since when did she take orders from that bastard, anyways? Rixah's jumbled thoughts and emotions were being further delayed as quarters of seconds passed rapidly.

Suddenly her sight and everything that went along with it returned and she felt herself being lifted up bridal style by a pair of gloved hands. The young Somebody was now amazingly exausted.

Axel's eyes were thoughtfully locked with the purple ones before him.

"You can-" she started, but being interrupted was something that happened often. Now was one of those times, it seemed.

"Doesn't look like I can leave you alone for more than thirty minutes, does it?" Axel gave her a lopsided grin.

"Put me down," Rixah finished with a rather irritated look.

"Ch, fine. I can guarantee you that you won't be able to get your skinny ass off the ground though." Axel innocently -that being a sarcastic term- dropped Rixah like a armful of fire wood that he was bored and tired of carrying.

Rixah gasped, stunned for the moment. "Bastard." She found that she hardly had enough strength to flinch, let alone "get her skinny ass off the ground". It was like one of those dreams she frequently had where she was powerless and always seemed to fail at defending herself from whatever decided to invade a perfectly good nap just to scare the shit out of her at that time.

There was an awkward silence, and then Rixah said in a defected tone, "Help?"

Surprisingly, he did nothing mocking. He just gave an expressionless nod and threw her over his shoulder.

"Definitely not a cat," the brunette mumbled more to herself.

Axel snorted and took a step forward. Suddenly they were in her room.

"What the f-"

"Chill. You passed out, get it memorized." Axel rolled his eyes after laying her down on the bed, leaving her to drip into unconsciousness.

Axel found it funny that she'd actually believe such a lame excuse. Of course not. He'd just opened a dark corridor and walked on through.

What a joke.

* * *

Storm clouds rolled in, and a pitiful Roxas stared blankly out the window. He hated this. He wanted what he didn't have, yet at the same time he didn't believe Xemnas in the least. There really was only one person he could talk to at this point, but it was making him inwardly debative. No... he couldn't ask a Nobody. They would give him the same answers as usually.

Not a Nobody... so why not a Somebody? Why not Anybody?

Why not Rixah?

_Geez_, Roxas shook his head. _I really am naive..._

* * *

**SO LONG!!!! oh well... R&R please! Rixah will ruin your worst enemy's day tommorow if you do :P**


	10. Chapter 10: Interaction 0

**My Quick Update :P**

**yeah, well i had this chapter typed up before chappy nine**

**DID YOU KNOW THAT SAMMI DOESN'T EVEN READ THIS ANYMORE?!**

**and she expects me to read her yaoi fanfic with enthusiasim (dont get me wrong, i loves it) as she completly disregards me.**

**sam, i will not remind you to read this, but if you do get to this particular comment, please note that i am indeed a selfish little girl who likes attention better than icecream**

**Axel: *coughTOTALLY PMSINGcough***

**Me: *Hires Sai'x to maim him repeatedly, though not denying it in the least***

**Zexion: ... *walks away* T_T**

* * *

Roxas was puzzled. He simply couldn't find the Somebody anywhere. Hadn't she been out for a walk or something?  
Maybe so, but she should've been back by now, considering how long it had been. Almost four hours? Roxas didn't know, and he didn't for the most part take interest in it, what's more.

That morning scene with Zexion and her made him uncomfortable, but it was all a mix up. A prank pulled by the ever-vivacious Axel; Roxas was just not pleased that his best friend had chose to leave him out of it.

In fact, Roxas wasn't seeing a great deal of Axel since they came here. They were staying in this place for six months. The blonde wondered if he would even make it to a week, the way things were going.

"What am I doing?" Roxas sighed, his eyes locked to the flooring in front of his feet as he came to a halt in front of Rixah's door.

Of course Rixah would call him crazy. Though it was she who was psychotic, the way she attacked Marluxia: Demonic at it's finest. She could compare to Sai'x and his moon problem, were she stronger.

The blonde shivered involuntarily at the passing thought of it.

Speaking of demonic people, where was Larxene? Usually when you hadn't seen her in a certain period of time, she would find you and it would be a pain. Literally.

Roxas knocked.

"Uh, come in."

Axel? In Rixah's room?

…

Did Roxas seriously even want to know?

But he had a headache Tylenol couldn't cure from the questions that continued to swirl around his head like angry bees, so he walked in, hands in his pockets.

There was a figure on the bed that could only be Rixah, covered in blankets. Axel sat on a chair, with the FACE on. The serious face.

"A-Axel?" Roxas asked nervously.

"Yeah?" Came his offhand reply.

"What happened to her?"

…

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I'm gonna anyways. Hey, man, you didn't hear this from me, got it memorized?" Axel leaned back and continued after Roxas nodded, "Heartless attacked her and I saved her ass. She's lucky to be alive, the way she pissed them off."

"You… saved her?"

"Hey, my advice, never call a Heartless a cat and then throw chunks of cement at it. It's a bitch to take care of them then." Axel put on a grin.

That didn't help. Now Axel was faking it by not having the FACE on.

"But, why would you save anything with a heart? Isn't… that treason against the Organization?"

Roxas had seen it a few times, the face, as it was a rare occasion. It meant something big was going to happen soon.

Really soon.

Or it already did.

"Wait, Heartless?!" There WAS no Heartless on Earth! They'd all disappeared a really long time ago from this world! How was that possible?

"Usually, but hey, be on the lookout. Hey, I gotta split, so I'll catch up with you later. Oh, and have you seen Larxene around?"

"Nope."

Axel made a dramatic pause as if he feared for his non-life and opened a dark corridor faster than Roxas could say disestablishmentarianism. And according to Xigbar, it took a while.

The Key of Destiny panicked slightly. Now he was alone with Rixah. Asleep she may have been, but a wicked puncher she was. It seemed that she was especially grumpy when woken up, though. Well, then again, who wasn't?

Roxas cautiously moved over and poked the sleeping figure.

Okay, he swore something just hissed at him.

Rixah peeked out from under the covers. "He's gone, right?"

"Yeah… Axel left."

"Good." She tore off the blankets and swung her legs over the side. "So what the hell do you want anyways?"

Mean much?

"I don't-" Just then, Marluxia flew in, furious to say the least.

"Number XIII, control VIII at once! He is creating havoc in the side garden! Burning it! FIX IT NOW. I am quite close to powerless, ergo unable to stop him. He somehow has regained all of his abilities, and I want this to be managed quickly before he causes anymore harm!"

Roxas paled and tripped over himself, running out of the room.

Rixah was most defiantly impressed with the power Marluxia held over Roxas. This was scary, because she was just as bad as he was.

"What'd you do to him?"

Marluxia sneered. "I didn't do anything to the ingrate."

"He was… -okay, whatever, but that was awesome." She shrugged.

"I heard of what occurred in the ally. I can assure you that most of us are not enthralled by Axel's treasonous actions."

The Assassin strode out of the room before Rixah could reply to that.

Treasonous? Since when was Axel treasonous? And for what, for that matter? Because he saved her?

Well, wasn't that just messed?

* * *

**Ack. i wish we had two computers again. our other one broke down so i only have 3 hours a day (AT MOST) because my dad is teh biggest computer hog known to mankind **

**ZOMG SUCH A NERD ZOMG**

**well, Read & Review! hope you liked it, really :P**


	11. Chapter 11: Giving Up and PMS

**what's going on, my reviewers (and tory. see? you're seperate cause your special)**

**you should be happy to know that this story is done. or at least the rough draft is.**

**i just have to find that not-so-lazy part of me and get her to type stuff.**

**Disclaimer: (i find these rather depressing) I don't own the first part that's in all italics. That part belongs to Raining Moon Song. I don't own anything from Square Enix or Disney (should I even bother to use Disney characters in this story).**

**ANYWAYS i hope you like it.**

* * *

_"Hmm," she hums, watching the sandpit outside the electric fence. She has horses, though she can't ride outside the field because she was working with a "Greenie," her Arabian purebred, Ali Jesreal. Or Jesse. Her retired barrel racer, Micky, had to be put down, because he was over thirty years old and couldn't get up anymore. The grass rustles, and she squints as she sees two yellow orbs in the dark green grass._

_She reaches her hand out, figuring its the stray cat that had been wandering around. "Here, kitty kitty," she calls, "c'mon sweety..." And yes, it comes, but doesn't touch the fence. Its bigger that a cat, she realizes, standing up. She makes out the form of a giant ant, and a moment later, it shrinks down, and she watches in horror as it flattens into the ground and crawls through the shadows._

_There are tons of them! She gasps, backing up the stairs--and then a thought strikes her. She opens the storm door and pulls the main door shut, then turns to face the strange little shadows. She stands in the light of the porch, where they dare not tread._

_"One, two, three, four..." Tory counts twenty-one, and she bites her lip, hesitating...They are creatures of the darkness, anyone with half of a brain can see that..._

_"Even if this isn't a dream," she mutters, closing her eyes, "I want to end it all." She lets herself go into the shadows, and allows them to close in on her. _

_Maybe later on... should there be any "later", she would regret this decision... but for now..._

* * *

"You _do _know what's going on then, don't you?" Axel narrowed his deviously green eyes at the Schemer. Earlier he'd evaded the wrath of Marluxia for torching his garden rather nicely.

"I have a guess... but it does not fit in with the current circumstances," Zexion replied quickly, as eager as a Nobody who could care less about others could be for the information that he didn't have.

"... That's a screwy way to say you have no idea."

Zexion didn't react to this. Maybe because it was true. Maybe because saying anything back wasn't worth his time.

They were outside in the long, paved driveway; randomly standing in between two black cars that seemed to never leave the area.

"Care to fill me in?"

This is when Axel gained his trademark grin. Zexion instantly regretted it.

"Weeelll, technically I'm not supposed to tell you about this, but if it's worth my while..." he trailed off, leaving the unspoken ending as obvious as ever to the other Nobody.

Zexion closed his eyes and crossed his arms, to think. "Since you've gone out of your way to merely get me and Rixah Twinite in the same room, I can see at least part of your assignment quite clearly. The question that remains is why. To get this answer, I will make you a deal."

Axel beckoned him to continue by saying, "and that would be...?"

"I'll make your job less painful. Though Xemnas couldn't have picked a worse time for all of this, I should think we'll be able to make some type of progress. As you very well know, Sora is making his way to the end of his own maze."

Axel's face turned troubled. "Right."

"…And once we get back, you have my permission to enter the lab and do with it what you please, so long as I'm not involved, nor will I be put at fault for your action's."

Needless to say, Axel brightened exquisitely and distinctly. He beamed and clapped Zexion on the back, proud to see the Schemer's trouble-making side.

"Nice. Deal. So Lexaeus found Ansem's ACTUAL final reports."

Zexion raised his visible brow.

Axel continued, leaving more questions then answers in the Schemer's mind, "Xemnas thought the others were the last of them too but nope, these ones are definitely Ansem too, got it memorized? _And _they have some super important, untested info in them."

Zexion waved him on, giving the approval to continue.

"According to them we... have our hearts. But they're basically little smashed pieces in us. Every-time our m... ah, how did he say it? Every-time we... think we feel?? Every-time our minds make us think we feel something, some of those specs come together again."

Zexion scoffed softly to himself. "Ludicrous. I mean, the idea is deplorable, and I've considered the possibility a number of... so I'm the experiment then? This... girl, Rixah Twinite... I'm supposed to attempt to develop feelings for her?"

"Love is the quickest route... well, for you at least. Hell, Roxas will probably _have _his heart soon, but then again, you never know." Axel looked minimally perplexed. "Roxas is the real guinea pig, though. You're just the follow up."

Zexion's mind was going to extraordinary feats today, even for him.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. Marly-kun was supposed to be the one to hit it off with her, but "due to his state of mind" or whatever," he had made the finger quotes, much to Zexion's annoyance, "you turned out to be the next best choice, got it memorized?? Ehhhhhhhhh, now that I think about it, those two would murder me before I tried to put _them _in the same car together. Not a pretty picture. Besides, she's already starting to like you!"

Zexion sighed, then he said, "Only due to the planned events. I'm sure it would've worked between those two, it would just take longer because their personalities are so alike that they clash and you'd just have to change tactics. Besides those facts, is not XI better now?"

Axel shrugged, "Oh. Well this is from the Diviner's mouth, not mine: Too late."

And then Axel was gone.

And then Zexion was aggravated.

And then Rixah did something nice.

* * *

She caught up with Roxas again to finish the conversation that had barely even started.

Rixah started with a warning. "Don't expect this every-time you want my help."

"I won't."

Roxas was secretly unsure of his decision to come to Rixah.

How was he supposed to talk with her and keep all of the things that were vital to the conversation and more quiet at the same time?

"So? What's it? Do you like a girl, or something? I'm not prejudice. So if you're into, like, Axel or someone I won't say a word." What a deviant.

"Ah? N-no! He's... my best friend."

Rixah smirked. "I'm not so sure you would be singing the same song if I blackmailed you. You know what? I should set you up with my Internet friend, Tory, you two would click."

What in the worlds? This isn't like her.

"..." Rixah's face fell. "It's my dad. I want to know how he died, but I don't. Now that I know for sure he's dead I can move along, like I just smashed up another wall blocking me from myself."

Did everything have to be a violent reference with her? And did he just say that other bit aloud?

Yes, and yes.

Mood swings much? But really, it was like someone went and pushed the off button on her seemingly permanent PMS.

Roxas made a face.

So Rixah wasn't as bad as-

Oh screw it. It was females in general, no matter what Axel may say.

Females, Marly, Larxene and Sai'x. Larxene is in a different catagory for what should be obvious reasons.

There ya go; that's it. That's what it is.

* * *

**R&R and the super-happy-funtime bunny will come and give you a shirt with a pic of Albel Nox on it!!**


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